Boiling/treating bass strings

[stuka at mindspring.com]

Just boiled one of the unisons on the Frankenpiano, #G24, a triple-string unison. Boiled it in a big pot 12-14" in. dia or so, in about 3" of water. The pot never did get to a big rolling boil, it's a gas stove and it takes a lot longer to get there than an electric would.  Let it boil for a half-hour, 45 minutes or so. Pulled the strings out, let them cool about a minute, then wiped them vigorously, pinching the string in a cloth and pulling it through over and over.  The first several times this leaves black dirt/oxide marks in the cloth, then the marks begin to get lighter.  Pulled/wiped the strings until they didn't leave marks. Re-strung the unison, and yes, in this case there is obvious improvement over the two untreated unisons beside it. Much more live and brilliant, and the attack is not clunky and over-prominent, but tighter and more blended in with the decay/sustain, and pleasant.  This was rather a quick-and-dirty trial and it looks like there might still be some room for improvement; all of the discoloration (and presumably all of the dirt/grime/oxidation) is not gone, though the unison looks quite pretty and shiny next to it neighbors. 

I'm also wondering about some of the kitchen methods for de-oxidizing copper, which tend to run along the vein of citrus and salt solutions.  One example that seems rather elegant for having the "best of both worlds" is this:  "Vinegar and Salt. If copper is tarnished, boil article in a pot of water with 1 tablespoon salt and 1 cup white vinegar for several hours. Wash with soap in hot water. Rinse and dry."  The double-duty of boiling and non-abrasive chemical removal of tarnish seems appealing.  I suppose I can pull out another unison on the FP and try it out here in a few...

Matt

-----Original Message-----
>From: Pianotuner <pianotuner at telenet.be>
>Sent: Jun 28, 2007 1:56 PM
>To: 'Pianotech List' <pianotech at ptg.org>
>Subject: RE: Why NOT to polish bass strings.......
>
>Hi Stéphane and all,
>
>About boiling the strings...
>I had very recently a set that needed replacement on a small grand in my
>shop. I read something about that boiling of string before, so I tried
>everything in the book and nothing seemed to help, so I decided to boil them
>and I can assure you that this did not improved anything to the sound... if
>not made it worse. So I think the only good way is to either add an extra
>twist in the direction of the copper winding before putting the string back
>on or just replace the string(s). Indeed rubbing with steel wool will make
>them shiny but leaves small particles of the steel wool between the windings
>which in most cases makes the string duller then before.
>
>Conclusion: The boiling test is done but was not successful.
>
>Maybe they needed longer boiling time, I boiled them up to 10 min.
>I think for guitarists it more to get the grease from their fingers out of
>the windings, but in our case it is dust, corrosion and aging.
>
>Kind regards,
>Peter Joris
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
>Of Stéphane Collin
>Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 12:06
>To: Pianotech List
>Subject: Re: Why NOT to polish bass strings.......
>
>Hi Gordon.
>
>Indeed, any liquid/chemical mean to polish the bass string will unfavourably
>
>alter the tone of the bass strings.  I don't understand why this is.  My 
>guess : it is the minute shocks between the brass windings that make the 
>high partials of the tone.  Anything in between the windings (dirt, paste, 
>and all) will damp the minute shocks, thus the high tones.
>While we are there, may I just mention again what did work for me and what 
>didn't, in order to bring back some brightness in the tone ?
>Mechanical rubbing of the brass (scotch brite, steel wool) does improve the 
>look, but not the sound.
>Removing the string from the hitch pin, making a large loop in it and 
>running the loop back and forth along the string has mixed results : 
>sometimes some brightness comes back, sometimes not at all.
>Removing the string from the hitch pin and twisting it in the direction of 
>the winding before putting it back on the hitch can bring some of the 
>brightness back, certainly with many turns, but it also affects the 
>inharmonicity of the string, and after three or four twists, the sound of 
>the string becomes objectionnable.
>Removing just the tension of the string, leaving it in place, and banging it
>
>hard with heavy hammer strokes works great, nice results, but one every 4 
>strings so treated breaks when pulled back to tension.
>Replacing the strings with new ones works like wonder, assumed that you wait
>
>until the strings have settled.
>
>I heard that guitarists who can't afford buying a new set of strings (the 
>majority of those) have good results boiling the strings in boiling water. 
>I never tried this with a piano string, but am wanting to hear comments from
>
>those who did.
>
>Hoping to raise some more comments.
>
>Best regards.
>
>Stéphane Collin.
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "gordon stelter" <lclgcnp at yahoo.com>
>>     Was it what I used, or will ANY polishing of bass
>> strings harm the tone ??? I won't do any more, until
>> certain.
>
>